Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
Individuals with female sexual dysfunction (FSD) were found to be at increased risk for sensory over-responsivity across sensory modalities. OTs provide services for a variety of diagnostic populations with sexual dysfunction and should expand their unique role to include individuals with co-occurring FSD and sensory modulation disorder, by incorporating sensory processing into the routine evaluation and providing sensory strategies to facilitate satisfying sexual functioning.
Primary Author and Speaker: Aviva Yochman
Contributing Authors: Mijal Luria, Hadas Noy-Nota
PURPOSE: Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) is a common disorder significantly affecting quality of life. Research indicating a link between sexual dysfunction and atypical sensory processing in this population has mainly focused on understanding basic physiological processes of abnormal sensory function, usually isolated to one sensory modality, and in laboratory settings. Notably limited study has focused on assessing behavioral responses to sensory stimuli from multiple sensory modalities, in various everyday life situations. Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD) occurs when an individual has difficulty responding adaptively to sensory stimuli, and this disorder has far-reaching effects on quality of life and the ability to engage in daily activities. Although one possible consequence of SMD is a negative effect on sexual functioning due to the involvement of intense sensory stimulation to multiple sensory modalities, this issue has been overlooked in research and intervention. Therefore, the goal of this study was to compare the sensory profiles of women with and without sexual dysfunction.
DESIGN: Twenty-nine women with diagnosed FSD and having no additional psychiatric or neurological deficits who were being treated at a sexual dysfunction clinic, and 31 healthy women with no sexual dysfunction, aged 20-52, participated in this study. All participants completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile Questionnaire, which evaluates the frequency of their responses to sensory events in daily life and the Sensory Responsiveness Questionnaire which evaluates response intensity to sensory stimuli.
RESULTS: The results of the multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant group effect on the sensory profile questionnaire (F(4, 55) = 2.66, p < .05). Follow-up univariate ANOVAs on both questionnaires showed that the over-responsivity sections were significantly different between the groups, as opposed to the under-responsivity sections. The effect sizes found for these results were moderate to high. In addition, the percentage of women with clinically significant deficits in sensory processing was higher in the experimental group. Furthermore, logistic regression indicated that over-responsivity was a significant predictor of group classification.
CONCLUSIONS: FSD is known to be caused by multiple bio-psycho-social risk factors. Our results indicate that women with SMD may be at increased risk for sexual dysfunction. Therefore, sensory processing is a significantly important factor which needs to be considered in the evaluation and treatment process of this population. Since FSD is a heterogeneous group of disorders, further research relating to the various subgroups of FSD on larger samples is required.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Occupational therapy provides services for a variety of diagnostic populations with sexual dysfunction. The results of this study emphasize the importance of occupational therapists expanding their unique role to include individuals with co- occurring FSD and SMD by incorporating sensory processing into the routine evaluation of this population and providing sensory strategies to facilitate satisfying sexual functioning.
References
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